Behind the image: Verger, St-Siméon, Orne

They say that familiarity breeds contempt. It can also make you blind to what’s right on your doorstep.

This is also a lesson about always making time to grab that photograph.

It was early in the morning. I had the car loaded with filmmaking gear and was on my way to start work on the first day of shooting a short film, Cigarette. Making films, even amateur ones like ours, is a complex and exhausting endeavour, so my mind was full of everything I’d need to do that day.

But I hadn’t even got to the end of our drive before noticing the beautiful, misty light. I was eager not to be late for the shoot. Even so, I had to stop and dig the camera out of the bag.

This is the landscape that we see at the end of the drive.

And the stream continues on the other side of the road.

But the best shot was to be found looking back into the rising sun. This is of the woodland next to our house.